Posted on 09/13/2011 8:09:37 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
Earlier today, I noted that Michele Bachmann finally scored points on Rick Perry by hitting him on his ties to Merck and linking that to the Gardasil mandate Perry imposed through executive order in Texas. This is a fair point on Perry’s record, even given his apology for pursuing the mandate through EO instead of through the legislature, and it’s not surprising that Bachmann was the candidate to first take advantage of the opening. (Mitt Romney passed a mandate on health insurance for all citizens of Massachusetts, which pretty much puts this issue out of reach for him.) However, Bachmann took a winning argument about the method and the wisdom of mandating a vaccination for a limited-spread virus and turned it into an anti-vaccination argument, especially in this post-debate argument on Fox with Greta van Susteren.
>>>"There’s a woman who came up crying to me tonight after the debate. She said her daughter was given that vaccine. She told me her daughter suffered mental retardation as a result of that vaccine."<<<
Huh? “Mental retardation” typically takes place in a pre- or neo-natal event. Autism becomes apparent in the first couple of years of life — and primarily affects boys. Gardasil vaccinations take place among girls between 9-12 years of age. Even assuming that this anecdote is arguably true, it wouldn’t be either “mental retardation” or autism, but brain damage.
The FDA has received no reports of brain damage as a result of HPV vaccines Gardasil and Cervarix. Among the reports that correlate seriously adverse reactions to either, the FDA lists blood clots, Guillain-Barre Syndrome, and 68 deaths during the entire run of the drugs. The FDA found no causal connection to any of these serious adverse events and found plenty of contributing factors to all — and all of the events are exceedingly rare.
The “mental retardation” argument is a rehash of the thoroughly discredited notion that vaccines containing thimerasol caused a rapid increase in diagnosed autism cases. That started with a badly-botched report in Lancet that allowed one researcher to manipulate a ridiculously small sample of twelve cases in order to reach far-sweeping conclusions about thimerasol. That preservative hasn’t been included in vaccines for years, at least not in the US, and the rate of autism diagnoses remain unchanged.
The most charitable analysis that can be offered in this case for Bachmann is that she got duped into repeating a vaccine-scare urban legend on national television. It looks more like Bachmann sensed that she had won a point and wanted to go in for the kill, didn’t bother to check the facts, and didn’t care that she was stoking an anti-vaccination paranoid conspiracy theory, either. Neither shines a particularly favorable light on Bachmann.
Rick Santorum took the correct position on the Gardasil issue. We mandate certain vaccines in children because we mandate children be gathered for educational purposes for many years (in private or public schools), and certain diseases are easily communicable in those settings. By mandating vaccinations against whooping cough, measles, and mumps, we are protecting children who would otherwise get exposed without any action on their part except compliance with the law. That’s not true with HPV, and parents should decide for themselves whether to inoculate their sons and daughters with Gardasil or Cervarix. If Perry wanted to make those inoculations more accessible, he could have crafted an opt-in system rather than forcing parents to opt out.
Well..I usually don't promote heated rhetoric..but if I were of the age group being prodded by government bureaucrats to take a substance that turns out to be harmful to an entire generation of women, I would personally want to hunt down each and every one of the jokers on this thread and punch them right in the nose..and that is putting it mildly.
And no...mental retardation (lowered mental function)is not the same as Downs Syndrome! It can occur with any injury to the brain by chemical or blunt force! Sheeze! Stay out of my health decisions you health care illiterate bozos..every single one of you!
Just under appropriate supervision.
You see, the thing about good parenting is that the better one is at it, the less one has to do it.
>>The medical profession pushes this vaccine very heavily on teenage girls. I have a 17 year old who, in my opinion, can make her own decision about this vaccine when she is 21.<<
That is exactly what I told my girls.
My Goddaughter opted out herself (although her mom is a big lib and wanted her to get it). She went all though college without it.
If my girls want it, they know that they must hold some self control until either they get the shot or their boyfriend/husband is tested for HPV.
I was a virgin for 34 years. It can happen.
“Plus it puts the parents on a government list that could be abused by Child Protective Services.
“
And you know damned well that would be the next step in all this. CPS interfering.
“There are a whole lot of of people....and I mean, enough that it really stuns me....who have come to believe that children they know who suffer from autism, seizures, weird allergies, etc....all is connected to government-mandated vaccines.
Michele has tapped a large hidden reservoir of votes with this.”
She should ask for an investigation to find out if the govt was covering up the existence of aliens in Area 51 in order to get even more support.
We don’t live in the same state, so I guess I don’t get your point.
>> Well, she just is
If you really, honestly believe that that is Bachmann’s motivation, then bless your heart; you’re as naive as a newborn baby. That’s no sin, mind you. Gullibility can be dangerous in adults, though.
Even so — the mothers I know that really care about their kids are also intelligent enough to research *all* sides of the issue and find out the facts. They may disagree that Gardasil is right for their kids, but they wouldn’t agree with Bachmann’s hysteria over the subject, either.
“That vaccination has done a lot of damage, anybody that says it hasn’t is ignorant of the facts.”
Certainly hurt those working at polio wards.
And iron lung manufacturers
And those guys who made little coffins for kids.
And cosmetic companies that had products to cover smallpox scars.
That's a thin reed to disagree on, in that Perry likely holds that ALL children should be vaccinated against measles, tetanus, hepatitis, and chicken pox. But those have the same opt out that was offered for the HPV immunization.
Best I can discern, Perry expresses a sincere belief that massive public immunization against HPV would benefit public health. If you know of anyplace he's backed off from that, share it.
Time and time again the studies do not support that BS.
I know I would not want a kid who was un-vaccinated for the major diseases sitting next to my kid in school.
The issue is not usually about the nice kid of hippie parents. It is more an issue when your kid is sitting next to some product of a third world $hit-hole that has come into the country and doesn’t quite understand what the indoor plumbing thing is all about.
You chose it for your minor children — fine. That’s the way it ought to be. An item on the market that can be chosen, and perhaps recommended by personal physicians.
I’m willing to chalk up Bachmann’s mode of objecting to the mandate to being very mother-like, although she could stand to take a chill pill or two to keep from going overboard in the future. She is a jealous mama — jealous for American freedom and strength. I like that. If she doesn’t make the top spot, she ought to have a prominent position in that person’s cabinet.
Are you saying it's impossible to raise a daughter who won't have premarital sex?
Sarah Palin ain't God, and I certainly don't automatically assume she's a better parent than I am.
Well put, sir.
“While it is sexually transmitted”
Sadly, it’s not just sexually transmitted.
Unsanitary classmates and an unwashed handshake can do it.
As can public laundry facilities if you don’t bleech your underwear.
>> She should ask for an investigation to find out if the govt was covering up the existence of aliens in Area 51 in order to get even more support.
At the rate we’re going, Bachmann will continue her wild-eyed attacks on Gov. Perry, even while Ron Paul is chewing at HER rear end for stealing HIS wacko base... could get entertaining!
It was reversed 2-3 months after the Exec Order (that would have gone into effect the next year)
Sadly, you are not the only one that allows others to decide for them who should govern.
>>Well..I usually don’t promote heated rhetoric..but if I were of the age group being prodded by government bureaucrats to take a substance that turns out to be harmful to an entire generation of women, I would personally want to hunt down each and every one of the jokers on this thread and punch them right in the nose..and that is putting it mildly.<<
Until we have Multi-generational studies on this, I won’t agree to get it for my girls.
If they chose to act in such a way that they put themselves at risk for HPV, knowing that they have not gotten the shot, it’s on them.
But if they get Bells Palsy, Guillan-Barre syndrome, seizures, blood clotting, heart problems or even a birth defect in future children, that’s on me if I give them this vaccine.
We all take precautions. They’ve been taught Krav Maga. No one is messing with them. Rape is not an option with my girls.
Bachmann and Palin being women probably react differently that a lot of men. Rick Santorum was a guy who took their stand also.
I think there are some good and solid aspects to Perry, but stuff like this is a problem. Makes me wonder what else is out there.
I am tired of government playing nanny. Bottom line. If someone wants to do that. I reject it. That was one of my problems with Mitch Daniels.
As far as the lawsuits go, I am not a lawyer, it would be interesting to know if a drug is mandated by government, can the drug company be sued for liability? Or is it protected by government?
But Michele is just a wannabe who desperately needed to find an opening.
Agreed with everything you said: Michelle has a great future just not as President anytime soon.
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